UK to receive extra 10m vaccine doses as rollout accelerates March 11, 2021 Up to 10m extra vaccine doses are set to be made available to the UK within the following days, as ministers look to accelerate the nation’s largest ever vaccination programme. More than 22.8m people have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine so far, including all top four priority groups. Overall vaccine numbers have [...]
Derwent London reports dip in rental income after ‘unprecedented’ year during pandemic March 11, 2021 Property firm Derwent London this morning reported a dip in net rental income for the year, as the vacancy rate for the London office market doubled during the pandemic. Gross rental income for the landlord hiked 5.8 per cent last year to £202.9m, up from £191.7m in the same period last year. However the impact [...]
Kent Covid variant could be twice as deadly as previous strains, report suggests March 10, 2021 The Kent coronavirus variant could be twice as deadly as previous Covid strains, analysis of more than 100,000 infections has suggested. Research published today in the British Medical Journal showed that the Kent mutation, which is now the dominant strain of coronavirus in the UK, may be around 64 per cent more lethal compared to [...]
Nightingale Hospitals were meant to save us, but the £500m idea was dead on arrival March 10, 2021 NHS England announced yesterday that four out of seven Nightingale Hospitals will shut permanently from next month as coronavirus cases and hospitalisations continue to decline. The remaining three, including the site at London’s Excel Centre, will remain open as vaccination centres. The temporary hospitals were swiftly erected in just two weeks last March to deal [...]
Downing Street says UK-EU vaccine row will not affect Moderna vaccine shipments March 10, 2021 The ongoing UK-EU vaccine row will not disrupt millions of Europe-manufactured Moderna vaccines set to arrive in Britain throughout spring, according to Downing Street. Boris Johnson’s spokesperson today said the government “remains confident” of its vaccine supplies and that “we’ll use the Moderna vaccine from spring”, despite an escalating row over vaccine supplies with Brussels. [...]
Boris Johnson hits back at ‘completely false’ EU vaccine ban allegations March 10, 2021 The Prime Minister has hit back at EU claims that the UK has banned all Covid-19 vaccine exports, telling MPs that Britain “opposes vaccine nationalism in all its forms”. Charles Michel, president of the European Council, yesterday falsely claimed that the UK had an “outright ban” on exports of vaccines produced within Britain. Boris Johnson [...]
Spain joins Greece in plans to welcome tourists from May March 10, 2021 Spain will consider joining Greece in plans to reopen its borders for international travellers who have received a Covid vaccine from May, the country’s tourism minister has said. Maria Reyes Maroto told local Spanish media Antena 3 TV that the country could introduce Covid-19 vaccine passports as early as 19 May in a bid to [...]
Test and Trace has had ‘no clear impact’ on Covid rates despite £37bn budget, MPs warn March 10, 2021 There is no evidence to show that the government’s Test and Trace programme has had any clear impact on reducing Covid infection levels despite its £37bn budget, parliament’s spending watchdog has warned. In a report examining funding into the scheme, the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said spending on Test and Trace was “unimaginable” and warned [...]
NHS workers were originally set for 2.1 per cent pay rise, says chief executive March 9, 2021 NHS staff were originally in line to receive a 2.1 per cent pay rise before the pandemic, the health body’s chief executive has said. The government sparked widespread outrage last week after ministers announced health workers were set to receive a 1 per cent pay rise this year. Labour said the annual increase amounted to [...]
Another Covid surge likely within the next year, warns Chris Whitty March 9, 2021 All current modelling suggests another wave of coronavirus is likely within the next year despite the speed of the vaccine rollout, Professor Chris Whitty has warned MPs. England’s chief medical officer said that even under the most optimistic set of assumptions a further 30,000 people will likely die from Covid-19. Speaking at the Commons’ Science and Technology [...]
